Apple Watch 2 Expected to Focus on Internal Upgrades Rather Than External Changes, Launch in Late 2016

[haruhiko]

The un-Apple sluggishness of the Watch made me change back to my good old mechanical watch. If all I can easily do is to see the time, why don't I use one that doesn't require me to charge the battery at all? Even for the basic timekeeping feature, I will need to significantly flick my arm to wake the screen, which is a very impolite gesture.

I appreciated the convenience of having notifications on my arm, but I started to find it annoying. What I need is less notifications rather than more.

 

[Dr.Chroma]

Hope Apple just lets this thing die already. Move on to something else. It's been a year and people that have it realize that it's something they can easily live without. Before it came out, I actually thought this was a good idea. But everyone makes mistakes. Even the great ones. Take the L and just move on. The problem here is that Apple is too arrogant and prideful and will continue beating this dead horse for years to come

Clearly it is isn't going away. It was a 1st Gen product which exceeded Apple's expectations in sales. Granted, it does have its downfalls, but so does every electronic product Apple makes, regardless of what Gen it is. The Apple Watch is here to stay and will continue to improve. This is not a 'Mistake', if your referring to a Billion dollar company that makes the best products on the market. The Apple Watch is not going to 'Die', if they make the appropriate health advancements, processor/battery improvements and user interface tweaks, it will only flourish from here. Your Post seems uneducated on the Apple Watch and its variations.

 

[Dr.Chroma]

I have read a lot of posts where people held off from purchasing the 1st Gen Apple Watch for reasons listed in this post and are waiting for the release of Gen 2. Its my opinion that the Apple Watch 2 will be successful, if they introduce new casings, internal improvements and expanded capabilities. The price point for the 1st Gen Watch is steep, but I personally will upgrade knowing the quality Apple puts forth. With the right improvements and timeliness of the Watch 2, hopefully it will do well. Hopefully, they do not screw up the preorder like they did the first Watch release. That was atrocious. Here's to hoping.

 

[Uplift]

I think people expect too much from the watch in it's early stages. It's something thats going to be improved over time.

I love my Apple watch, this may be a shock... but I use it for telling the time! , I love wearing watches, always have done. This one is always the correct time, gives me fitness advice and shows my notifications, in rare cases I'll respond to text messages when grabbing my phone is not an option.

When people see it i get a lot of questions and most people shocked I spent £500 on a watch that just tells the time... my other non-smart watch cost £700 back when it was released and does far less... it's not a time piece, i've had it years and it is looking battered.

I love the design as well, at first it looked a bit like a child's toy, but it's quickly matured, we have lots of AndroidWear watches coming on the market trying to copy expensive time pieces with standard round design, they all end up looking tacky and it's clear to see why Apple went with the design and shape that they did... it only took for more watches to hit the market for us to realise.

 

[groovyf]

...we have lots of AndroidWear watches coming on the market trying to copy expensive time pieces with standard round design, they all end up looking tacky and it's clear to see why Apple went with the design and shape that they did... it only took for more watches to hit the market for us to realise.

I saw a TV advert the other day, and just noticed "Fitbit" at first alongside a quick image of a smartwatch and thought it a fitbit app for Apple Watch advert... then it sunk it it was the Fitbit Blaze.

 

[OllyW]

Kind of a microcosm of the iPad. I think many of the issues the iPad faces with declining sales, can also be attributed with the apple watch to some extent. I think the apple watch 2 will be a hard sell for current apple watch owners, so that means Apple will need to try to convince those who held off already that the AW2 is a worthy product

I don't like the looks of the current Apple Watch so it's going to be a really hard sell to me if they are only focusing on internal upgrades for the AW2.

 

[maflynn]

I don't like the looks of the current Apple Watch so it's going to be a really hard sell to me if they are only focusing on internal upgrades for the AW2.

They had one rumor which they were going to make it thinner, which is hard to dismiss given Apple's propensity for making things thinner.

All things being equal, I agree, if they only upgrade the internals, it will be a hard sell for those who had not bought the first gen AW, and those of us who have, may not want to to drop another 300 to 1,000 dollars a year later. Perhaps I'm alone in that assessment but from my observation I don't expect many AW owners to drop another chunk a change so soon after buying it

 

[sulpfiction]

The Garmin's Fenix 3 is a superior product. Apple needs to take notes on that design and functionality.

I wont comment on functionality because I never used one. But please for the love of God, Apple do NOT take notes on any of the design aspects.

 

[derek4484]

To me, this is disappointing. I was truly hoping that the other rumors were correct. That the new Watch 2 would be thinner than the original. I would like to get an Apple Watch, but I hate how thick they are. Kind of one of my pet peeves about watches, I really dont like thick watches. I'm always catching them on walls and other objects if they are too thick.

 

[Gawjuz]

Shame. Having resisted being an early adopter I was looking forward to a sleeker, less chunky design from the Watch 2.0

 

[Ed217]

I’ve had my Apple Watch since they came out and love it. My wife has one now and feels the same way. They have proven to be a very useful addition to our device family. That said, I have yet to see another AW on anyone’s arm here locally…not a single one.

There are a couple things at play here. Is the public really ready for wearables? Is the yearly upgrade cycle for the iPhone going to work for AW units? What is the future of upgrades for any device given the recent changes in carrier upgrade price options?

I have 3 iPads. Two are the original large iPad and the other the original mini. All three are still in use and I have little intention of upgrading any of them. They server the purpose I use them for well and the newer iPads don’t provide sufficient value added for me. All are stand-alone units and have no monthly plan costs. Currently the AW falls into the same category.

Wearables are going to be a big thing eventually, but its not here yet. The gym/fitness crowd probably are more likely for some, but the rank and file is still in mostly wait-and-see mode.

It will be interesting to see what impact the newer carrier upgrade pricing changes have on iPhone sales. It won’t surprise me to see them go down, but time will tell. I’ve been on the 2 year upgrade cycle for some time now, with 3, 4, 5 and currently 6. I expect to get a 7 later this year, but I expect it will end up costing more than past cycles.

I’m not a device thinness fan. I look more at function than form. I’d much rather have a slightly thicker phone with more battery than the thinner model. Same for AW. Some years ago I bought my first Nikon DSLR. I had it a few months before I sold it to a friend and bought a different Nikon that was twice the size and three times the weight. The small one just didn’t feel right in my hands. Feel and function was more important than size and weight.

I think Apple would be better served to focus on new products rather than just “better” version of current products. The Amazon Echo looks pretty good, and integrates more easily than any HomeKit approach. HomeKit has been a total loss for me. Siri had so much potential, but Apple has delayed in offering its features to developers. I recently added wireless charging to some of my iPhones, and that was cheap and works great.

The new Apple TV is good, but not much different for me compared to the older one I have and still use as well. Apple has been dancing around TV for some years…and they are still just dancing around.

 

[mountain]

Still hope it's going to be thinner and longer battery life. Also, a beefier cpu and more ram of course.

 

[stanman64]

Churning out? Surely that would be copying S*****g, leave the churning out to the masters of it.

True.. Let Samsung spam the market with cheap, under-thought out products. But, it would be nice if Apple could step things up a bit with the Macs.

 

[Tubamajuba]

And now iPad sales are dropping quarter after quarter.

Yes... and? The iPad had many years of great sales. I can't find a more recent number, but 225 million iPads were sold by October of 2014. That is the definition of a successful product line, even if Apple halted all iPad sales immediately following that month. I think everybody would call the Apple Watch a success if there were 225 million of them in the wild after four years.

 

[citysnaps]

That tilt you're experiencing is due to the movement of the Apple Watch displays to the back of the Apple stores.

Nope. They're still out in front, prominently displayed.

 

[ChrisCW11]

That is clearly dissapointing because the last thing the Apple Watch needs is an incremental internal update as I don't really think people are loving it on its style which is why sales are slow. To me the Apple Watch looks like a mini 1.5" iPhone 1 with watchbands, it doesn't embrace any recent industrial design from the company over the last 9 years.

Also a rectangle watch face makes it look like a Timex/Casio and not a fashion watch. I don't think Apple Watch will be wildly popular until it has round screen.

 

[Roadstar]

If "showing the time constantly" is your primary demand, a 10€ Casio does it even much more inexpensively. Android watches may be compatible with iOS nowadays, but that is quite different from being as deeply integrated as the Apple Watch.

It's important, but not my only demand. That 10€ Casio won't get me my notifications or track my exercise. And yes, Android Wear with iOS isn't as integrated as an Apple Watch or as feature-rich as when paired with an Android phone, but still it tells the time, tracks my steps and delivers notifications. That's worth the rather inexpensive price for me.

 

[gigaguy]

Got my first AW 2 weeks ago and enjoy it, mind you I let the early adopters pay the full price. Mine was 2 mo old and it's great. I'm liking it but won't be put out if all the bands and add-ons don't work with the AW2, but I'm thinking it'll be more an S update than a AW2. It's very nice for $200, but I wouldn't be as happy spending $400-600 on a 'new' one. Mine was complete in box with 10mo warr left.

 

[thekeyring]

I've not seen many people criticise the design. I could be mistaken, but I thought the major criticisms were the Watch's dependency on iPhone and speed. If they can make it much faster, add a GPS + enhanced WiFi, all without losing any battery life, those would be significant technology upgrades.

As for the fashion side of things, maybe more collaborations would be good. I would love to see the reaction among my fiancée's friends if there was an Apple Watch x Michael Kors collection, for example. Though not at a ridiculous £500+ price.
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Got my first AW 2 weeks ago and enjoy it, mind you I let the early adopters pay the full price. Mine was 2 mo old and it's great. I'm liking it but won't be put out if all the bands and add-ons don't work with the AW2, but I'm thinking it'll be more an S update than a AW2.

Even if the design is thinner, it could still have the same band connector - the current connector is pretty thin, isn't it?

 

[The Game 161]

Speed improvements needed as apps are very slow

 

[thekeyring]

Great ! The fact that the Apple Watch didn’t instantly become a revolutionary product, however, isn’t necessarily a troubling warning sign. Indeed, if we take a look back at Apple’s storied history, we see that it took some time for products like the iPod and the iPhone to truly become global phenomenons. That being the case, proponents of the Apple Watch have justifiably argued that we should reserve judgement on the device until the second-generation model is released... So i'm waiting for the next release

Critics often look at products released under Tim Cook's Apple and say it shows the company has "lost it": Apple Watch, Apple Music, Apple TV (4th gen)... What people seem to forget is that all those products were released last year.

We're about to see Apple Watch turn 1: It's the highest selling smartwatch and has 97% customer satisfaction. Still a long way to go, problems to fix, etc - but we haven't seen any updates outside of new watch straps yet.

I tried Apple Music as soon as it launched, and when my trial ended, I cancelled. I recently tried it again and absolutely love it - they've tweaked things in the intervening time and I think it's great, personally. It's got 11 million subscribers in under 12 months vs Spotify's 30 million users after being launched eight years ago.

The Apple TV is so new it almost feels unfair to judge it at all, but I think the biggest piece missing is content providers + more apps. In the UK asking Siri to play The Simpsons leads you to iTunes where only Seasons 1 and 2 are available, despite it being watchable on "old-fashioned" TV here on Channel 4 and Sky. Channel 4 and Sky should have apps where I can watch it on demand - or at least, Fox should. However, the remote and UI are excellent. Once Channel 4, ITV and UKTV get their act together, I'll be even happier. The fact it lacks 4K matters about as much as the original iPhone lacking 3G.

 

[JCoe13]

Every other post says June release or Late 2016 release. Just gonna have to wait it out because sources aren't agreeing with each other. Just doesn't seem right to release the watch 2 so soon after people just got the first one. Give it at least 10 months and release a new one. Take the extra few months to develop something extra.

 

[recoil80]

I hope Watch 2 will be like iPad 2, a huge step forward in terms of internal components (more speed, more ram) and OS support.
I'd buy Watch 1 only if they cut the cost significantly, i.e. < $250 for the bigger model,otherwise I'll wait for version 2

 

[dannys1]

Well - Apple has never cared much for physical backward compatibility before. Even the "S" versions of iPhones are subtly different (thicker, thinner, etc.) than their predecessor... rendering many cases obsolete. Then there's the whole 30pin-Lightning thing that rendered a LOT of hardware and docs obsolete.

I suspect that the new Watch will be interoperable with the old bands. But I also realize that this is Apple... and they don't always care about backward compatibility.

Nah your examples are poor. Apple never made most of those case (so obviously they don't care about 3rd party junk) and the cases they have made have always worked across the S models too.

You can't compare changing to lightning connectors, you have to have technology progress at some point, that 30pin connector was hideous and the lightning is far better in every way. We did have 30pin for well over 8 years - not one iteration of a single device - its not even remotely comparable and it was the correct move by Apple (not to mention there were adopters for legacy 30pin adapters anyway so no one was left in the cold).

No one who's moaning about this has willingly taken me up on my bet yet!

 

[Sharkey311]

Niche market not the next big thing Tim.

Although it is a niche market, I see at least 10 apple watches in the wild every day at least.
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The watch is a dud. Think i've seen only 1 person wear one.

You must live in the backwoods with hillbillies then.
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has actual purpose.

Define "actual purpose." Are you saying my watch has no purpose and is just strapped to my wrist for nothing?
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I'd buy Watch 1 only if they cut the cost significantly, i.e. < $250 for the bigger model,otherwise I'll wait for version 2

Just buy a used one from someone when apple watch 2 comes out for like 100 bucks. I have a feeling the resale value for apple watch 1 will be really low.